Google Searchers A Bunch of Pot Heads?

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:40:01 +0000

Google’s Weekly Zeitgeist report that a number was most on the minds of Google searchers last week: 420. What’s the big deal about 420? Well, in its explanation Google neglected to mention that particular number represents the amount of THC in marijuana.

Why last week? Google does explain that one. It’s tradition.

“Modern folklore has it that teenagers in San Rafael, Calif., coined this term around 1970 to indicate a time to meet to smoke marijuana; April 20 is an informal holiday for pot smokers,” said the search company located just an hour away from San Rafael.

A few other notable buzzes this week were searches for Miss USA (#5, ahem, Miss Kentucky always – there’s just somethin’ about them KY girls!), gas prices (#7), the movie Silent Hill (#3), and Mother’s Day (#9).

Nobody was interested in David Lee Roth taking the place of Howard Stern on CBS Radio, but apparently many wanted to know about his subsequent boot from the airwaves just three months after he started. For Roth, getting booted from the airwaves must be like dj vu all over again. Google searches for Diamond Dave this week comes in at #13.

The rest:

2. Nick Lachey: the celeb skirts overexposure with an MTV special that aired April 22 plus a Rolling Stone interview that attempts to set the record straight regarding his ex, Jessica Simpson

4. Nepal: the beleaguered mountain nation experienced significant pro-democracy protests against the king, who agreed April 24 to restore the parliament after a four-year hiatus

6: Chernobyl: the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred in Ukraine 20 years ago this week, triggering a fresh wave of analysis about what has changed (or not) since then, and how to prevent another one

8: Reggie Bush: USC player and Heisman trophy winner defended himself via attorneys about news stories that his family lived in an expensive home owned by a sports marketer who reportedly hoped to arrange presumably lucrative contracts for the footballer (against NCAA rules)

9. Denise Richards: starlet gets another 15 minutes both for winning a restraining order against soon-to-be-ex husband Charlie Sheen. based on accusations about his paranoid behavior, and she is also rumored to be canoodling with rock star Richie Sambora, recently split from Heather Locklear (got that?)

11: Opie and Anthony: CBS Radio confirmed April 24 that it has hired rowdy shock jocks to replace David Lee Roth just 3 months after Roth was picked to replace Howard Stern, who moved to satellite radio

12: Pyramid Head: fictional monster from Silent Hill 2 (the videogame) also plays a predictably alarming role in the new movie (see #3 above)

14: Aresanob: this promotional hook from the TV show CSI:NY is both a story angle (character Stella Bonasera’s name backwards) and a website promoting the April 19 episode

15: Cinco de Mayo: the holiday marking Mexican independence occurs May 5

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Coke Dealer Busted Through Online Ad

WebProNews Staff — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 14:51:14 +0000

Some people deserve to get pinched and locked up for sheer stupidity; Social Darwinism would demand it. Boston police arrested a man for cocaine trafficking, setting up a bust after viewing an advertisement he posted on the Internet. He even included a phone number.

Officers called the number on the listing and arranged to meet 20-year-old Tyrone Burgo, who sold an undercover cop the cocaine later that day. He was arrested promptly.

The story, first reported by the Associated Press, does not mention where Burgo posted the advertisement, but some suspect that it was on a community directory-listing site like Craigslist.org. Though Craigslist.org and sites like it expressly forbid illegal activity, some postings are likely to slip through the cracks.

The day after Burgo was arrested, Boston.com reported that police in the Massachusetts town of Milford arrested five men for soliciting a prostitute through a Craigslist posting. The men consulted the site for hooker listings and made contact with a state trooper posing as a prostitute instead.

Burgo may have erred (besides posting online) first by not using a street-recognized codeword and second by providing a phone number. Prostitutes who use Craigslist and other directories often use euphemisms like “massage” or “escort.”

Or, as found in a New York Craigslist directory, the codeword 420 is often used for marijuana. But few use their actual phone numbers.

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Google Searchers A Bunch of Pot Heads?

Coke Dealer Busted Through Online Ad